Mechanical Properties of the Surface of Enceladus
An experimental approach
A.S.Y. van Veen (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
S.M. Cazaux – Mentor (TU Delft - Planetary Exploration)
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Abstract
This work examines the mechanical strength of Enceladus’ surface by testing ice analogues that replicate its plume-deposited top layer. Ice grains up to 100 µm were produced with a liquid-nitrogen spraying method and stored at –25 °C and –80 °C to study the effects of temperature and freezer time. The samples were tested under atmospheric and vacuum pressures using an adapted cone indentation method, providing both shear and compressive strength. Under atmospheric pressure, sintering leads to increasing strength with longer freezer time and warmer temperatures, with shear strengths of 20–220 kPa and compressive strengths of 40–475 kPa. In vacuum, a combination of effects result in uniformly weak strengths of ~10 kPa. These results indicate that Enceladus’ surface likely consists of a weak, unconsolidated snowy layer over a partially sintered brittle layer. This has direct implications for the design of future lander missions to Enceladus and other icy moons.